Vegetarian Recipes

Creamy Cucumber Salad

I don’t know if there’s any salad that says “Summer” more than a simple creamy cucumber salad. This salad is so light and fresh, and it only takes minutes to make, so it’s the perfect side dish for all of your summer meals.

Close up front view of a shallow bowl full of creamy cucumber salad.

What’s in Creamy Cucumber Salad?

This classic summer salad is made with cucumbers, onions, and a simple creamy dressing. The dressing can vary from recipe to recipe, but it’s usually either a sour cream or yogurt base with some sort of acid (lemon juice or vinegar), a little sugar, and dill. It’s simple, fresh, and delicious!

Can I Use Fresh Dill?

Creamy Cucumber Salad is often made with fresh dill, but since fresh dill can sometimes be hard to find or more expensive, I made the version below with dried dill. You can certainly use fresh dill if you have access to it. I’d use about 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill in place of the dried dill listed below.

To Peel or Not to Peel the Cucumbers

It’s totally up to you whether or not you want to peel the cucumbers. I love the contrast of color the peel provides, but some people experience digestive upset with cucumber peels, so peel them if you prefer. You can also scrape out the seeds if those bother you as well.

How Are the Leftovers?

This salad is best when freshly made because the salt in the dressing will draw the moisture out of the cucumbers and cause the salad to get watery if refrigerated for a day or more. Luckily, this salad is really easy to scale down, or, if you know you plan to eat the leftovers for a few days, you can salt the cucumbers ahead of time to draw out the excess water. But salting the cucumbers will make them softer, which is why it’s not my personally preferred method.

To pre-salt the cucumbers, place the sliced cucumbers in a large colander and toss with ½ tsp salt. Let the cucumbers drain for about ½ hour, then pat dry with a paper towel. Since the cucumbers will already have some salt on them, skip adding salt to the sour cream dressing and just add salt to taste once the salad is assembled.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

This simple Creamy Cucumber Salad is the quintessential side dish of summer. It’s light, fresh, and so quick to prepare!

Course Dinner, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Total Cost $2.31 recipe / $0.58 serving

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 1 cup each

Calories 74kcal

Author Beth – Budget Bytes

Ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream $0.55
2 Tbsp lemon juice $0.08
1/2 tsp dried dill $0.05
1 tsp sugar $0.02
1/2 tsp salt $0.02
1 large cucumber $1.49
1/4 red onion $0.10

Instructions

To make the dressing, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, dill, and salt in a bowl. Set the dressing aside.
Peel the cucumbers, if desired. Slice the cucumbers and thinly slice the red onions.
Combine the cucumber, red onion, and dressing in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes, give it another stir, then serve.

Nutrition

Close up side view of creamy cucumber salad in a bowl.

How to Make Creamy Cucumber Salad – Step by Step Photos

Sour cream and dill dressing in a bowl with a red spatula.

Make the dressing first. Stir together ½ cup sour cream, ½ tsp dried dill, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt.

Sliced cucumber and red onion on a cutting board.

Peel the cucumbers, if desired. Slice one large cucumber and thinly slice ¼ of a red onion.

Add the cucumber, onion, and dressing to a large bowl.

Finished cucumber salad in a bowl with a spatula.

Stir to combine. I like to let the salad sit for about 5-10 minutes before serving just to let the flavors combine a bit. Give it a good stir again before serving.

side view of a plate of creamy cucumber salad.

Enjoy this super fresh summer salad immediately!

Try These Other Cucumber Salads:

The post Creamy Cucumber Salad appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Vegetarian Recipes

Cherry Blondies

Whenever I’m craving something sweet, but I’m sick of the same old same old, I whip up a batch of these fudgy, chewy, fragrant Cherry Blondies! The creamy white chocolate, tart cherries, and crunchy almonds make this recipe stand out. This is not your typical blondie! I don’t use almond extract too often, but pairing its flavor with cherries and white chocolate is just a no-brainer to me. (But a little goes a long way, so use it sparingly!)

Easy Recipe for Cherry Blondies

Blondies are like brownies, just without the cocoa. Instead, they’re made with brown sugar and vanilla, and have the BEST buttery flavor and chewy texture.

For these cherry blondies, I mix in canned cherry pie filling (it adds a sweet-tart cherry flavor without a lot of fuss or cost), slivered almonds, and white chocolate chips. I also brown the butter first to bring out a nutty, almost toffee-like richness that’s totally worth the extra few minutes. A mix of brown and white sugar strikes the perfect balance of moisture and structure, while a splash of almond extract adds a frangipane-style flavor. Bake them once, and you’ll see why I keep coming back to this combo. 😋

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Cherry Blondies

These easy Cherry Blondies are loaded with white chocolate, almonds, and cherry pie filling for a sweet treat that’s simple to make and hard to resist.

Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Total Cost $5.82 recipe / $0.64 serving

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Chill Time 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings slices

Calories 429kcal

Author Jess Rice

Equipment

8×8” Baking Dish
Parchment Paper
3 Mixing Bowls
Sauce Pan
Hand Mixer

Ingredients

1¾ cups all-purpose flour $0.28
½ tsp baking powder $0.02
¼ tsp salt $0.01
1 large egg $0.29
1 tsp vanilla extract $0.47
½ tsp almond extract $0.15
½ cup cherry pie filling $0.73*
1½ sticks salted butter cut into cubes, $1.48
½ cup granulated sugar $0.19
1 cup brown sugar $0.91
¼ cup white chocolate chips $0.42
¼ cup slivered almonds $0.87

Instructions

Grease and line an 8×8” baking dish with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350℉.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, almond extract, and cherry pie filling. Mix together and set aside.
Cube the butter and melt over medium heat until frothy, whisking once in a while to make sure the milk solids don’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
Once butter is browned, it will have a nutty aroma and darken in color. (Babysit it! Don’t let it burn!) Remove from heat.
Combine browned butter with granulated and brown sugar.
Mix with a hand mixer on low until combined. Then, add the wet cherry mixture and continue to mix until combined.
Finally, gently mix in the dry flour mixture little by little until a batter forms.
Fold in white chocolate and almond slivers.
Transfer batter to greased and line baking dish and add some extra white chocolate and almonds on top, if you have them.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting. The interior may still be a little gooey. These are chewier than your typical brownie! Enjoy.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*The ingredients in a can of cherry pie filling are pretty simple, but I have found the Duncan Hines Comstock brand “Simply Cherry” in a can to have fewer ingredients and no added coloring, so if you see it next to the regular cherry pie filling, you may want to spring for that can instead. You could try making these with fresh cherries, which I skipped because I couldn’t find any at my local grocery store, just make sure you pit them first!

Nutrition

how to make Cherry Blondies step-by-step photos

The ingredients to make cherry blondies.

Gather all of your ingredients and preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease and line an 8×8” baking dish with parchment paper. Set this aside for now.

Flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients: Add 1¾ cups flour, ½ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt to a mixing bowl and combine. Set this aside.

Cherry pie filling, egg, and vanilla extract in a bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients: In a different mixing bowl, combine 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla, ½ tsp almond extract, and ½ cup of cherry pie filling. Set this aside for now as well.

Brown the butter: Add 1½ sticks of cubed salted butter to a saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter until frothy, being sure to whisk it once in a while to avoid the milk solids from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan. Babysit it, and don’t let it burn! It typically takes about 5-8 minutes for butter to brown.

When the butter is browned, it’ll smell nutty and be darker in color. There will also be flecks of brown throughout (those are toasted milk solids, and they’re full of flavor). Remove it from the heat once done.

Brown and white sugar added to a bowl of browned butter.

Make the batter: Pour the browned butter into a mixing bowl and add ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.

The wet ingredients for cherry blondies added to the creamed butter and sugar.

Use a hand mixer on low to combine the browned butter and sugars. Once mixed, add the wet cherry pie filling mixture and keep mixing until thoroughly combined.

Dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients to make cherry blondies.

Now, gently fold in the dry flour mixture a little at a time until a thick batter forms.

Slivered almonds added to the batter for cherry blondies.

Finally, fold in ¼ cup white chocolate chips and ¼ cup slivered almonds.

The batter for cherry blondies in a lined baking dish.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. If you have any extra, top the batter with a few white chocolate chips and slivered almonds to make it look extra pretty.

Finished homemade cherry blondies in a baking dish.

Bake: Place the baking dish into the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes. They’re done once a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let your homemade cherry blondies cool for 20 minutes before cutting for the best results. They may still be a little gooey! They’re definitely chewier than your average brownie but just as delicious. Enjoy!

Overhead view of a baking dish of cherry blondies with one missing.

Tips for Browning Butter

I brown the butter in this cherry dessert recipe because it gives the blondies the most amazing, deep, nutty flavor that plain melted butter can’t match. You could skip this step and just melt it, but it definitely wouldn’t taste the same.

It’s honestly so easy to brown butter, and only takes about 5-8 minutes from start to finish! Here’s how to do it right (we also have a step-by-step breakdown with photos on how to brown butter you can check out, too!):

Use a light-colored pan if you have one. It makes it easier to see the color change.
Watch it closely. Browning happens fast, and it can burn before you know it. Stay nearby and use medium heat.
It’ll start to froth. That’s normal. Just keep gently stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom.
Look for brown flecks. Those are the milk solids toasting, which is exactly what you want.
Pull it off the heat right away. As soon as it smells nutty and the color deepens, about 5 minutes, take it off the heat! It’s ready to use.

You can even make a big batch of browned butter and keep it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and use it in future recipes. It’s obviously delicious in my cherry blondies recipe, but it’s also amazing tossed with plain pasta, drizzled over roasted veggies, or mixed into oatmeal.

Line your pan with parchment paper. It makes it way easier to lift the blondies out and slice them cleanly once they’ve cooled.
Let them cool in the pan. As good as they smell fresh out of the oven, I let my blondies cool for at least 20 minutes to help them set up properly. They’ll slice neater, and the texture will be just right.
Check for doneness with a toothpick. You’re looking for a mostly clean toothpick when inserted into your white chocolate cherry blondies. If you hit a cherry or a melty white chocolate chip, it might smear a bit, so try a second spot! Don’t forget, they may still be a little gooey on the inside rather than cakey.

Storage Instructions

Personally, I enjoy these cherry pie blondies cold! I like to keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and grab one whenever I need a sweet pick-me-up. They’ll be good for up to 3-4 days when stored this way. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.